There are hopes the coronavirus crisis will spark a council to drastically reassess its plan to build a £3.6 million car park extension on water meadows.

Proposals to enlarge Wincheap park and ride by 228 spaces were green lit by Canterbury City Council's planning committee last year. However, they are currently stalled due a judicial review.

The Conservative-led authority, which has come under continued criticism for the plan since it was hatched, says it still believes in the potential of the "ambitious" project.

But Cllr Nick Eden-Green believes - and hopes - the coronavirus crisis could result in a change of direction.

"The plans are still actively being discussed and thought about, and they continue to be fought by the Save Wincheap Meadows group," the Lib Dem councillor said.

"I just hope that some rethinking will go on when that comes back onto agenda because the cost of that project and environmental impact of it will be brought home to people even more strongly when we get through this crisis.

"I think there will be a lot of rethinking. There are very valid alternatives and I think there are environmental issues, which as a city, we are going to need to think through all the more closely.

"After this crisis it will be a changed world for the worse due to the financial problems and the number of deaths, but I think there will be change for the better as people will assess decisions on different parameters."

If the divisive project goes ahead, 250 metres of marshland will be transformed into a car park - which the council admits will, at times, flood.

Council spokesman Rob Davies said: "Dealing with the immediate issues this pandemic is throwing at us is our priority at the moment, whether it be creating the community hub to support vulnerable people, distributing vital business grants, keeping bin collections on the road or providing accommodation for rough sleepers.

"Our ambitious capital programme is essentially on hold for now while we establish both the impact the coronavirus is having on our overall budget position and the practicalities of delivering construction projects in the current situation.

"This includes everything from the refurbishment of St George's Street and the creation of a seafront plaza in Herne Bay, through to the extension of the park and ride at Wincheap and the repairs to Canterbury Castle.

"Of course, we still believe that these are important projects for the district, otherwise we wouldn't have planned them in the first place, but we cannot at this stage say whether all of them will still happen and whether the current timetable for them still applies."

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